Quit anxiety

There was a certain fella who used to work for a company
called Fruitcommerce. This chap was unceasingly sullen and anxious. He
was always on edge and anything uncomfortable, however small, would make him
jump out of his skin.

He would worry from
morning to evening, and his colleagues could tell something was wrong with him.

After working with him
for quite a time, they realised that his cause of anxiety and unabated worry
were the issues of life such as inadequate money to meet needs and wants,
psychological pressures arising from his family, and many more.

They tried to calm him
down to no avail.

Years passed, and the
guy remained in the same state of apprehension. Then one day, very early in the
morning, he came to work in a convivial mood. He was seen greeting everybody.
At the same time, he wore a genuine smile and looked decompressed. He appeared
not to worry anymore

One of his colleagues –
Sophia – approached him and asked, “Mr Mawazo,
today you seem happy! What has changed? You got a promotion?” She continued,
“Where did you take your worry?”

Mawazo responded, “I don’t
worry anymore.”

The colleague prodded,
“Where did you take it?”

“I hired somebody to
worry for me,” He answered.

“Okay, now, how much do
you pay the worrier?” Sophia continued to inquire, and Mawazo would
quickly reply, “I pay him twenty thousand dollars per month.”

“That’s incredible!”
Said Sophia, “Where in the world do you get that money?”

Without a moment
passing, Mawazo explained, “It is upon him to worry about his pay.
That is part of his job description.”

Fight Anxiety

Anxiety pities none of
us. However, the way we handle it varies from one person to another. Is it
possible that we can find peace amid stressful life?

It is conceivable that
we can halt the deadly downward spiral of anxiety. We still have one hope even
when worrisome situations seem to engulf us wholesale. This one remaining hope
is God. He is the only one in control of all things, including our very own
lives.

Laurie London was
precise when he famously sang, ‘He’s got
the whole world in His hands.’ We
are enveloped in His unending love.

‘For the Lord is the
great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the
earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.’ Psalm 95:3-5.

Some battles are better
left alone. We do not have to fight all battles. In many occasions, it makes
sense to sit calm, relaxed and yet prayerful.

“I had the blues
because I had no shoes until, upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.” Dale Carnegie.

We vacate our anxieties
in the hands of God when we realise He is bigger than all. We do this by
praying like King Hezekiah.

‘Hezekiah received the
letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the
Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord,
the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all
the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see;
listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

“It is true, Lord,
that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They
have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods
but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, Lord our God, deliver
us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you
alone, Lord, are God.”’ 2 Kings 19:14-19 (NIV).

Besides, we smother
devastating flames of anxiety by praising God like Paul and Silas.

About midnight, Paul
and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were
listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the
foundations of the prison were shaken. At once, all the prison doors flew open,
and everyone’s chains came loose. Acts 16:25-26 (NIV).

Daniel understood from
the Scriptures that the Israelites were to stay in captivity for 70 years only.
Armed with this knowledge, Daniel pleaded with God for the fulfilment of His
word. We surrender our anxieties to God when we study the Scriptures. Therein
lies the answer to our predicament.

‘In the first year of
Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the
Babylonian kingdom— in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from
the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the
prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned
to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in
sackcloth and ashes.’ Daniel 9:1-3 (NIV).

I love Deitrick Haddon’s
song, He’s able. There is a line that goes like this, ‘Don’t give up on God, ’cause He won’t give up on you.’ We have to stay in Him, even when the sea gets
stormy. He is the only hope of our life.

‘I keep my eyes
always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.’ Psalm 16:8 (NIV).

Categories

About Me

Allan Endeheli is a born again Christian with more than seven years experience in Children
Church Ministry. Allan has been consistently writing articles for three years with a bias in
Christian Apologetics, Inspiration, Meditations and Devotions. His articles are thoroughly
researched and grounded in the Scripture. He mostly does expository, persuasive, narrative and
descriptive writing